What are your top 5 most favorite books of all time?

[Jillpie]

I will add, if you have more favorites that you want to list, by all means, share! Don't stop at 5. I'd love to add to my reading to do list.
I'll say that I've read many, many by Nora Roberts, Kristen Hannah and love them all.

 

[nyy]

When I think of my favorite books, I instantly think of the ones read in childhood so many times over and over.
1. The Nancy Drew Mysteries - I was gifted an original, hardcover, complete set as a child and read them repeatedly.
2. Judy Blume - Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret.
3. Beverley Cleary - Ramona series
As an adult:
4. Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum series - but not the most recent ones - the first 5 or so were so much better.
5. Our Tree Names Steve by Alan Zweibel. It is a picture book. I cannot read it aloud to my students without tearing up.
6. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. This is not Disney's version! This is the original novel. A very different story.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I forgot Ready Player 1. Maybe that would be # 5.
Only Ready Player 2 and Meta have turned me slighty against it.

Yeah, Armada was...not good. I haven't read RP2 - maybe I shouldn't?

 

[Lumpy1106]

I will add, if you have more favorites that you want to list, by all means, share! Don't stop at 5. I'd love to add to my reading to do list.
I'll say that I've read many, many by Nora Roberts, Kristen Hannah and love them all.

I forgot about Unbroken - that was VERY good, definitely in my top 5.

I really enjoyed It Ends With Us - definitely lives up to the hype.

 

[karen4546]

(1) Anything by Stephen King/Richard Bachman but The Regulators is one of my faves.
(2) All the HP books with The Half-Blood Prince as a favorite.
(3) Jane Austen books-especially Pride and Prejudice
(4) Game of Thrones series George R.R. Martin
(5) John Grisham books

I also like the Darynda Jones series, Bridget Jones series.

 

[Lumpy1106]

I forgot about Unbroken - that was VERY good, definitely in my top 5.

I really enjoyed It Ends With Us - definitely lives up to the hype.

One more that has stuck with me; the Silo series by Hugh Howey;
https://hughhowey.com/books/wool/
Read it in this order; Shift, Wool, Dust. That's chronological. He wrote Wool, then followed it up with a Prequel (Shift), then a Sequel (Dust) to expand the story because it was so popular. Shift will be a little confusing as there are some references to Wool, but it really flows best if you read it in that order.

 

[georgina]

There aren't many books that I would read more than once. I think my absolute favorite is the combined Winnie-the Pooh books. Looking forward to reading them with my grandson, along with the Velveteen Rabbit.

Harry Potter books I have read a couple of times.

Classic mysteries such as Agatha Christie stories maybe. I do like Jane Austen also. James Herriott All Creatures Great and Small series of books.

 

[Colleen27]

In no particular order, with only the first book in a few favorite series getting mention:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Outsiders by SE Hinton
Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

 

[Colleen27]

I know there is a reading challenge thread, this is different. I absolutely love to read, have read many, many over 62 years. But I'm always in search of my next favorite. I use a Kindle, but love the library too. So when I say favorite, I mean, can't put down read all night kind of book, the kind that stays with you long after you read it. Here are mine, starting when I was young up till now.

1. Cashelmara-Susan Howatch
2. Anne Frank's Diary
3. And Then There Were None-Agatha Christie
4. Nightingale-Kristen Hannah
5. Shoemakers Wife-Adriana Trigiani

Those are my most favorite, but I have many, many more. How about you?

I've heard so much praise for Nightingale but haven't gotten to it yet, mostly because I'm not a fan of WWII as a fiction setting. But I adored The Great Alone and The Four Winds, which has me thinking I should give it a shot.

The Eyes of the Dragon (Stephen King's under appreciated best work IMO)
The Count of Monte Cristo (this one seems to be popular!)
Jane Eyre
The Phantom of the Opera (the musical is great, but the book it was based on is just so amazing!)
The Night Circus

It's so hard to limit to just 5 as there are others that I would also name as my favorites.

Both of these would be runners up for me, and I couldn't agree more about Eyes of the Dragon being King's best. I enjoyed it so much more than his better-known works, and it is one of only two of his books that has earned a place on my "keepers" shelf and an occasional re-read (The Stand being the other).

 

[BlueStarryHat]

As a kid, I loved:

Harriet the Spy by Louis Fitzhugh
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William Mckinley, and me, Elizabeth by E.L. Konigsburg.
Hangin' Out With CiCi by Francine Pascal (I loved anything she wrote, not just this book.)
Too many more to name. I read anything I could get my hands on as a kid. The library was just at the end of my street.

As an adult, a few were:

The Various Flavors of Coffee by Anthony Capella.
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

 

[ronandannette]

The Bible
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The entire Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan (couldn't possibly pick just one)
The entire Song of Ice and Fire series (Game of Thrones) by George RR Martin
Charlotte's Web by EB White

ETA an honourable mention for Stiff by Mary Roach.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Georgina, thank you for reminding me of Such sweet stories!

 

[superme80]

The Secret Garden Frances Hodgson Burnett
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
Beauty Robin McKinley
The Smartest Guy in the Room Bethany McLean and Elkind
The Secret oh NIMH Robert C. O'Brien

 

[disneydreamer781]

Wow! This is hard as I read so much. I actually never stop and it's hard to put them in order but here goes from right off the top of my head:

There's a trend here with history and horror:

Craven Manor - Darcy Coates
"Anything" by Ambrose Ibsen (seriously, I couldn't choose right now)
The Sunne in Splendour - Sharon Kay Penman
Paris - Edward Rutherfurd
New York - Edward Rutherfurd
Sarum - Edward Rutherfurd
Princes and Rebels of Edward Rutherfurd (set of 2)
London - Edward Rutherfurd
Dublin - Edward Rutherfurd - Okay, so I'm a big fan of this guy too...

 

[lorimt]

Outlander
Born A Crime
The Kite Runner
The Great Alone
American Dirt

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

In no particular order, with only the first book in a few favorite series getting mention:

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Outsiders by SE Hinton
Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Loved American Gods - Did you ever read The Master and Margartita the two books were similar to me in some way that I can't describe.

 

[Kirby]

4. Beautiful Joe

I love that book! You are the first person I've found that has ever even mentioned it.

As a child I read Black Beauty and Little Women over and over. As an adult I can't even list what would be my favorites, there are too many.

 

[luvthatduke]

The Bible
A Prayer for Owen Meany
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Wind in the Willows
The Screwtape Letters

 

[willowsnn3]

Sooo many favorites, I can't even begin to list.
The one book that I read over & over is Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers.
Such a sweet, simple book that draws me in every time. It has been coming to mind a lot lately so I guess it is time for my annual re read.

 

[Beezle2]

I can never really only have 5 and they change all the time but in no particular order
The Stand Stephen King
Neverwhere Neal Gaiman or most anything else..Sandman is also a favorite
The Lord of the Rings series
Hitchhikers Guide series
The Expanse series
Dune series
Outlander
Anne Rice
Mark Twain
Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Game of Thrones series
Station 11
Robin Hobb
Claire North
Brandon Sanderson
Ursula K LeGuin
Harry Potter series
Hunger Games
Good grief I really could just go on forever. Books are the number one thing I am ever grateful for.